Related Links

Johannesburg - The ANC is scoffing at the move by the DA to name Agang SA leader Mamphela Ramphele as the party's presidential candidate ahead of elections this year, saying the choice is a "rent a black" ploy to present a
multi-racial front to voters.

ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe was speaking on
Tuesday after Ramphele accepted the nomination.

AP reported that Mantashe said Ramphele's candidacy is
"what we call 'rent a black' and 'rent a leader'".

Accepting the nomination Ramphele said: "This is a historic moment. We are
going to take away the excuse of race and challenge the ANC to be judged on its
performance.”

DA leader Helen Zille said the “old political formations” were becoming
obsolete.

"There is no way a party with Mamphela Ramphele as
presidential candidate will bring back apartheid," Zille said.

Zille was a journalist on the now-defunct Rand Daily Mail
at the time of Black Consciousness Steve Biko's death, and played a lead role in uncovering the
circumstances of his killing despite denials of wrongdoing from officials in
the apartheid government.

"South Africans will forgive the ANC many
things," said Susan Booysen, a political analyst at the University of the
Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

She said voters are "not switching en masse"
and that the ANC could benefit from celebrations this year commemorating 20
years since the end of apartheid.

Special credibility

The FF Plus said opposition coalitions in politics should
be welcomed.

"The question is whether the merging of the DA and
Agang will contribute to reducing the ANC's current dominance of South Africa's
politics," party leader Pieter Mulder said in a statement.

"Dr Mamphela Ramphele has a political struggle past
which gives her special credibility to recruit, especially black votes, which
is out of the reach of the DA with their middle-class image."

However, he questioned whether Ramphele would be able to
convince her supporters to vote for the DA.

Publicity stunt

The African National Congress' Youth League called the merger an attention-grabbing publicity stunt.

It said newly-formed political parties were taking South Africans for a ride.

"People joined Agang SA thinking they are getting an
alternative public platform to exercise their democratic right only to
find themselves to be mortgaged to the Democratic Alliance," it said in a
statement.

"The same applies to the so called 'freedom' parties,
who have agreed on a working relationship a week ago, wherein people who
liked Julius [Malema] while he was in the ANC left with him only to be
told they are to work with the IFP."

Consolidation

The Congress of the People welcomed the consolidation of opposition parties.

"Soon
after the formation of Cope, we were right at the forefront of
reorganising opposition politics to make sure that we do not work
against each other, but rather with each other, especially on areas
where there is clear agreement," party leader Mosiuoa Lekota said in a
statement.

He said the establishment of the Collective for
Democracy, where the African Christian Democratic Party, the Freedom
Front Plus and the United Christian Democratic Party agreed to
co-operate, took this commitment further.

The National Freedom Party Youth Movement (NFPYM) said it
supported its party's decision to go into the election independently.

"SA politics is getting very interesting this days.
Last week IFP married EFF, today DA swallowed Agang," national secretary
Maria Busisiwe Tshabalala said in a statement.

24.com publishes all comments posted on articles provided that they adhere to our Comments Policy. Should you wish to report a comment for editorial review, please do so by clicking the 'Report Comment' button to the right of each comment.

Tell us a bit about yourself:

Saving your profile

Settings

News24 allows you to edit the display of certain components based on a location.
If you wish to personalise the page based on your preferences, please select a
location for each component and click "Submit" in order for the changes to
take affect.

Your Location*

Weather*

Always remember my setting

Saving your settings

Facebook Sign-In

Hi News addict,

Join the News24 Community to be involved in breaking the news.

Log in with Facebook to comment and personalise news, weather and listings.